Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Friday, May 11, 2018

George Will: Pence, the Worst Person in Washington

Over the years at times I have seen political pundit George Will as more and more extreme and damaging to the concept of "conservative" political thought. That said, compared to pretty much all of the Republican Party and the racists and religious extremists that now comprise the bulk of the GOP base, George Will nonetheless comes across as a true conservative of the old mold. Mr. Will reflects a time when honor, honesty, and a measure of decency still counted for something within the Republican Party. As Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell drag the Republican Party and conservatism in general further and further into the moral and ethical cesspool, a small rear guard of conservatives of the old mold struggle to resist the moral disintegration of conservatism. Part of this effort involves calling out those doing incalculable harm to the nation and society. In a Washington Post column, Will calls out a man in some ways more sinister and dangerous that Trump himself: Mike Pence, a man who feigns piety yet turns a blind eye to immoral and illegal conduct. Two telling sentences: "Trump is what he is, . . . . which is
pathetic. Pence is what he has chosen to be, which is horrifying." Here are more column highlights:

Donald Trump, with his feral cunning, knew. The oleaginous Mike
Pence, with his talent for toadyism and appetite for obsequiousness, could,
Trump knew, become America’s most repulsive public figure. And Pence, who has
reached this pinnacle by dethroning his benefactor, is augmenting the public
stock of useful knowledge. Because his is the authentic voice of today’s
lickspittle Republican Party, he clarifies this year’s elections: Vote
Republican to ratify groveling as governing.

Last June, a Trump Cabinet meeting featured testimonials offered
to Dear Leader by his forelock-tugging colleagues. . . . . The vice
president chimed in but saved his best riff for a December Cabinet meeting
when, as The Post’s Aaron Blake calculated, Pence praised Trump once every 12 seconds for three minutes
. . . .

Between those two Cabinet meetings, Pence and his retinue flew to Indiana for the purpose of walking out of an Indianapolis Colts
football game, thereby demonstrating that football players kneeling during the
national anthem are intolerable to someone of Pence’s refined sense of right
and wrong. Which brings us to his Arizona salute last week to Joe Arpaio, who
was sheriff of Maricopa County until in 2016 voters wearied of his act.

Arpaio, a grandstanding, camera-chasing bully and darling of the
thuggish right, is also a criminal, convicted of contempt of court for ignoring a federal judge’s
order to desist from certain illegal law enforcement practices. Pence’s
performance occurred eight miles from the home of Sen. John McCain, who could
teach Pence — or perhaps not — something about honor.

Henry Adams said that “practical politics consists in ignoring facts,”
but what was the practicality in Pence’s disregard of the facts about Arpaio?
His pandering had no purpose beyond serving Pence’s vocation, which is to
ingratiate himself with his audience of the moment.

[O]n Jan. 27, 1838, Lincoln, then 28, delivered his first great
speech, to the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield. Less than three
months earlier, Elijah Lovejoy, an abolitionist newspaper editor in Alton,
Ill., 67 miles from Springfield, was murdered by a pro-slavery mob. Without mentioning Lovejoy — it
would have been unnecessary — Lincoln lamented that throughout America, “so
lately famed for love of law and order,” there was a “mobocratic spirit” among
“the vicious portion of [the] population.” . . . . Pence, one of
evangelical Christians’ favorite pin-ups, genuflects at various altars, as the
mobocratic spirit and the vicious portion require.

It is said that one cannot blame people who applaud
Arpaio and support his rehabilitators (Trump, Pence, et al.), because, well,
globalization or health-care costs or something. Actually, one must either
blame them or condescend to them as lacking moral agency. Republicans silent
about Pence have no such excuse.

There will be negligible
legislating by the next Congress, so ballots cast this November will be most
important as validations or repudiations of the harmonizing voices of Trump,
Pence, Arpaio and the like. Trump is what he is, a floundering, inarticulate
jumble of gnawing insecurities and not-at-all compensating vanities, which is
pathetic. Pence is what he has chosen to be, which is horrifying.

As dangerous as Trump is, Pence is perhaps the more sinister evil. BOTH Trump and Pence need to be taken down by the Russiagate/obstruction of justice/Michael Cohen investigations.

Translate This Page

Contact Me to Order Title Work

LGBT Legal Services

About Me

Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

Disclaimer on Opinions and Content

This Blog contains content that may be innapropriate for readers under the legal age of 18. IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE, PLEASE LEAVE NOW. Thank you

This is an opinion and commentary blog and the opinions and contents of this Blog - including opinions expressed concerning opponents of LGBT equality - are the opinions only of the individual blogger and should not be attributed to any other individuals or to any organization of which the blogger is a past or current member.

Followers

Michael-in-Norfolk disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, reliability, operability, or availability of information or material displayed on this site and does not claim credit for any images or articles featured on this site, unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies, and Michael-in-Norfolk does not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. If you own rights to any of the images or articles, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact Michael-in-Norfolk via e-mail and they will be promptly removed. Michael-in-Norfolk contains links to other Internet sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience and are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information or content in such site has been endorsed or approved by this blog.